| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Self-help |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Founder(s) | Thomas Willhite, Jane Willhite |
| Headquarters | Lake County, California United States |
| Key people | Jane Willhite, President and Chairman |
| Services | Personal development coursework |
| Subsidiaries | PSI World |
| Website | Company Web site |
PSI Seminars is a for-profit private company which offers Large Group Awareness Training courses. PSI was founded in 1973 by Thomas Willhite and Jane Willhite and the company is presently based out of Clearlake Oaks, California
Contents |
PSI Seminars offers a series of progressively more challenging seminars;
PSI was founded in 1973 by Thomas Willhite and Jane Willhite, the company is presently based out of Clearlake Oaks, California.[1] Jane and Thomas Willhite also founded the non-profit PSI World.
Neal Vahle's The Unity Movement cited PSI Seminars as one of nine growth organizations that grew out of Mind Dynamics.[2] Other groups also cited by Vahle as having been influenced by Mind Dynamics, included Erhard Seminars Training, The Forum, and Lifespring.[2] Rodney Stich and Conan Russell compared the organization to est, writing that it was "an EST type self-awareness and motivational organization."[3]
PSI Seminars has also been cited by authors of books on self-improvement, including Extreme Success,[4] and Jack Canfield's The Success Principles.[5]
The coursework of PSI Seminars was also analyzed in a 1983 study in the academic journal, Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry.[6] The study examined the extent to which chronically ill members of the population in Hawaii sought out alternative methods of self care by utilizing nonprescribed treatment patterns.[6] Philips described PSI World as a self-help program.[7] His work, Living Synergistically, published by PSI World, was cited in Kraft's Ways of the Desert.[8]
In an episode of Larry King Live, guests Michael Beckwith, author Bob Proctor, and John DeMartini announced that they would be working together for two weeks at PSI Seminars.[9] Proctor spoke favorably of PSI Seminars on the program, stating: "I don't own the company, but it is the best course I've ever seen."[9]
PSI Seminars has drawn criticism from customers who claim that the program functions much like a cult, especially because attendees are encouraged to sign up for all three classes. (The Basic [$595; 3 days], PSI-7 [$4,450; seven days], and Mens/Womens Leadership [$5150; 10 days].) In 1995, PSI Seminars was singled out as one of a growing number of new-age self-help groups with a history of civil-rights infringements in the book Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace by Dr. Margaret Singer, who attended the seminars. Singer also warned against companies hiring the firm to assist in trainee motivation.[10][11]